Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/640287
ByJohnRogers TheAssociatedPress LOS ANGELES President Barack Obama granted na- tional monument status Friday to nearly 1.8 mil- lion acres of scenic South- ern California desert, a move the White House says will maintain in per- petuity the region's fragile ecosystem and natural re- sources, as well as provide recreational opportunities for hikers, campers, hunt- ers and others. Obama, in California this week for a fundrais- ing swing, signed procla- mations establishing three regions as national monu- ments — Mojave Trails, Cas- tle Mountains (both in the Mojave Desert) and Sand to Snow in the Sonoran Des- ert. The White House says the designations will nearly double the amount of public land that Obama has des- ignated as national monu- ment status since taking of- fice. "In addition to perma- nently protecting incredi- ble natural resources, wild- life habitat and unique his- toric and cultural sites, and providing recreational op- portunities for a burgeoning region, the monuments will support climate resiliency in the region ...," the White House said in a statement. The designations will also connect those regions to other protected gov- ernment land, including Joshua Tree National Park, the Mojave National Pre- serve and 15 other federal wilderness areas. Mojave Trails National Monument, at 1.6 million acres, is by far the largest of the three new ones. Sprawling across the vast Mojave Desert, it contains ancient lava flows, spectac- ular sand dunes, ancient Native American trading routes and World War II-era training camps. It also con- tains the largest remain- ing undeveloped stretch of America's Mother Road, historic Route 66. Castle Mountains Na- tional Monument, also in the Mojave Desert, links two mountain ranges as it cov- ers nearly 21,000 acres that hold numerous important Native American archaeo- logical sites. The area is also home to golden eagles, big- horn sheep, mountain lions and other wildlife. Sand to Snow National Monument rises from the floor of the Sonoran Des- ert to the 11,503-foot peak of Mount San Gorgonio, Southern California's tall- est alpine peak. Its diverse landscape in- cludes the headwaters of the state's Santa Ana and Whitewater rivers and is home to 240 species of birds and 12 endangered or threatened species of wild- life. It also contains an esti- mated 1,700 Native Ameri- can petroglyphs and 30 miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. The federal Antiquities Act, adopted in 1906, grants the president the authority to protect landmarks, struc- tures, and objects of his- toric or scientific interest by designating them as Na- tional Monuments. NATIONAL MONUMENT Obamamovestoprotect1.8millionacresofdesertinCalifornia DAVIDDANELSKITHEPRESS-ENTERPRISE,FILE Joshua trees display unusually abundant booms in the Cima Dome area of the Mojave National Preserve. By Ellen Knickmeyer The Associated Press SONOMA Where did El Niño go? Winter has suddenly switched off the rain and flipped on heat up to 95 de- grees in California, rais- ing jitters that the strong El Niño might not be the drought-buster the crispy state had hoped. "Forget El Niño, this is El No-no!" YouTube celeb- rity Hannah Hart tweeted. Heat records have fallen across the West in recent days, from Oregon to Phoe- nix to Los Angeles, where surfers hit the beaches and golfers strolled fairways. MuchofCaliforniamarked its 10th straight day on Fri- day without measurable pre- cipitation. The blue skies wereincreasinglyunwelcome in a state that just logged its four driest years on record. California has been looking forarobustandrainyElNiño to bring it out of mandatory water cutbacks. "It's nice to have the weather, but we hope to have the rain," Tia Gavin of Santa Rosa said as she showed out-of-town visitors around the adobe central plaza of the wine country town of Sonoma. Strollers in shorts surveyed restau- rant windows and lolled on blankets on green grass un- der the sun. The dry spell came after El Niño dropped near-nor- mal rain and snow earlier this winter. "If you just looked at the precipitation, you wouldn't think that there was an El Niño going on," said Sam Iacobellis, a climate re- searcher at Scripps Insti- tution of Oceanography in San Diego. He has been tak- ing note of early blooming flowers as he drove to work this week. Strong El Niños such as the one this year typically bring strong rain, Iacobe- llis said. However, there have been few modern El Niños on the scale of this one, making comparisons trickier, he said. National Weather Ser- vice forecasters were quick to offer soothing messages of drizzle yet to come. "No need to be con- cerned," forecaster Steve Anderson said. The balmy weather has "been awesome. It's been great. But it's not going to last," he said. "It's still win- ter." Californians are par- ticularly concerned about whether the warm stretch is melting the above-aver- age snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. The snow gener- ally provides about a third of the state's water when it thaws in the spring. There again, not to worry, forecaster Travis Wilson said. Parts of the Sierras broke heat records on at least two days this month, but nights have all fallen below freez- ing, keeping the precious new snow intact, he ex- plained. The heat is expected to peak around Monday, with more record highs possi- ble all the way to Wash- ington state and in parts of Arizona. More seasonal weather patterns were ex- pected to bring some rain back to California midweek. 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